[net.micro] more cells than atoms?

johnbl@tekig5.UUCP (John Blankenagel) (12/20/84)

>  In discussing addresses larger than 32 bits, remember that those extra
>  bits pile up additional memory awfully fast.

>  To build a computer with 48-bit addresses and to give it 2**48 memory
>  cells, you would need more cells than there are atoms in the Earth.
>  Addresses bigger than 48 bits are probably not worthwhile, unless you
>  need a discontiguous (sparse) address space.


Lets see.  (2**48)*48=1.35E16.  There are 2.15E22 atoms in a gram of
silicon.  So much for that theory.